Rohit Sharma, India’s newly appointed vice-captain, has revealed that he’ll have to use sweep shots against face Lasith Malinga ahead of India’s ODI series with the Lankan Lions. The 30-year-old opener has returned to the Indian side ahead of the 5-match ODI series which starts on Sunday.

Sunday's first ODI between India and Sri Lanka in Dambulla marks the first time Rohit Sharma will take the field for India since India's heavy loss to Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy final. Having had to make do with a place on the bench for the recently concluded Test series against Sri Lanka, the explosive opener will be looking to leave his mark in the shorter formats again.

Though India managed to clean sweep the Test series with ease, the home side are known to be a much tougher opposition in ODI's especially since Lasith Malinga plays the shorter formats of the game, which doubles Sri Lanka’s bowling threat. However, Sharma has said that he has a few plans with regard to how to tackle Malinga given that he knows the Lankan spearhead well from their time together at Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

“Every day is a learning day, today I got to learn something playing those sweeps and reverse-sweeps when someone like Malinga comes and bowls to you. It is something that the game demands these days. You got to be innovative and you got to play different kinds of shots to get maximum results,” ESPN quoted Sharma explaining.

The 30-year-old was also appointed vice-captain of the Indian squad for the upcoming series and he shared his views on the development saying, "It is a huge honour to be appointed as the vice-captain. Ten years ago, I was only thinking of playing for India. And being a vice-captain now feels really good.”

While this is the first time that Sharma has been appointed the deputy skipper of the Indian squad, he is no stranger to the responsibility as he has successfully led Mumbai Indians in the past. And he spoke about the difference between leading a franchise side and captaining an international team saying, "IPL is a completely different ball game and international cricket is completely different. But, yes, the excitement and energy remain the same, so nothing changes too much. In the IPL, I was captain, so I was more in front; here, I have to play a little behind-the-scenes role, but yes, I'll be very excited to step on to the field as vice-captain of the Indian team."

"Whenever the opportunity comes, in the first one-day international on August 20, there will be some sort of role I have to play. I'm looking forward to it. Rather than thinking too much about it, I just want to enjoy the moment," he added.